A Break In Mio, A break In Kotarou
by Sky Nayfack
Summary: All seems well with Kotarou and Mio, but is there something important Mio isn't telling?
1. Chapter 1

"Kotarou!" a sweet female voice called out at the school gate under a cloudy sky.

"Coming, Mio!" Another femme voice responded, yet this one belonged to a male.

The two joined up at the school gate and turned, hand in hand, towards Mio's house. Kotarou and Mio often walked home together, besides on days where basketball practice kept Kotarou too late, on which days Mio would merely say hello and walk home alone, much to Kotarou's dismay.

"So, my big basketball star," Mio began in a singsong voice, "What've you been up to today?"

Kotarou heaved a deep sigh. "Ugh, same stuff. Avoiding the Tatsuki glare. I swear, Mio, the closer we get, the farther apart we are. I don't get it!" Kotarou throws up his right hand in exasperation, still clutching Mio's hand with his left.

Mio tried desperately to suppress a giggle. This was a normal response for Kotarou to her question. What doesn't normally happen did, though.

"I really wish that I could come to your house today and escape from him. He wouldn't mind having the house to himself at all."

Mio's eyes enlarged almost double and fear struck her face very suddenly. "Uh… Umm, s-sorry, Kotarou, I d-don't really think that's a good idea. We're, um, pretty busy tonight, so, uh, yeah. In fact, I think I should hurry home today. I-I'll see you later. Bye!" And with that, she ran off towards her house, breaking the connection between her and Kotarou's.

"Huh?! Wha-what was that?!" Kotarou said out loud. "Did I do something stupid again? Oh, don't tell me I have something stuck in my teeth again!" he yelled up at the sky.

It responded by starting to sprinkle and giving off a roll of thunder.

"Crap."

"Tatsuki!" Kotarou called out through his house. "Hey, Tatsuki! Could you bring me a towel? I'm soaking wet!" When there was no response, He growled under his breath and pulled off his shoes in the doorway. "Fine, if that's how it is… I wish I did stay at Mio's place tonight…"

He trotted quickly through the house up to the bathroom, where he grabbed a towel from the rack and began to dry himself off. He pulled shirt off after concluding that it would be much easier to just let his clothes dry and to dry himself off.


	2. Chapter 2

_Our story left off last with Mio crying on the phone to a nude, bewildered Kotarou. Tatsuki is off glooming somewhere as usual._

"Mio? M-Mio? Hello!" Kotarou called into the receiver of his phone and swore at it when he didn't get a response on the other end. Hanging up in desperation, he ran out of the bathroom to find Tatsuki.

Finding Tatsuki in the kitchen, he yelled, "Did you say anything to Mio to make her upset, Tatsuki? Come on, talk to me! Or was she already crying on the phone with you?"

Tatsuki glanced over at Kotarou and said in a menacing tone, " You'll be crying soon, too, if you don't back away from me right now," and he stalked off.

"PRICK!!!!!"

_Ding-Dong_, the doorbell chimes out.

"N-no way! She can't be here already!" He ran to the door and opened it to reveal the tear-stained face of Mio. "Hi, Mio. You're here, um, much faster than I would have expected…"

"Sorry for intruding," Mio said quietly and walked into the house without waiting for invitation. She slipped off her shoes and walked over to the window, peering out into the already dark night.

_Hold on a second,_ Kotarou thought with a troubled expression playing across his face. _This is so unlike Mio. She never cries or comes into anywhere without waiting to be asked in, and she seems so jumpy._ "Uh, did something happen, Mio? Something you aren't telling me?"

Mio flat out ignored him and continued looking out the window, apparently searching for something.

"Is something out there, Mio? Mio, why aren't you answering—"

"Will you shut up for a minute?!" Mio said exasperatedly, turning to face him with blazing eyes.

"What?!" Kotarou almost backed up due to this sudden, uncharacteristic outburst from Mio, but instead, took a step towards her. "Mio, you aren't acting like yourself! What is wrong with you? Something happened that you're not telling me. What's going on!" He reached out for her wrist to pull her in closer, but as he grabbed her, she yelped in pain. Instantly, he released her, and she drew back with fear and pain-filled eyes. "Mio!"

"No! Don't ask! I knew I shouldn't have come here, but this was the closest place I could go! I don't know anyone around here!" She was seemingly talking to herself and didn't seem to notice when Kotarou enveloped her in his arms until he already had. When she did realize, she almost screamed and tried to push him away, but he held fast.

"I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's wrong, Mio! I can't bear to see you like this! I need to know!"

"No, no you don't, Kotarou! You don't have to know anything about what's going on! I just… I just…" She started sobbing into his shoulder, unable to suppress her feelings any longer with Kotarou's touch. "I'm scared to say. He said I couldn't. It's all my fault. It'll all be my fault…"

"What will, Mio? Tell me, what will be your fault if you tell me anything?"

Mio drew a quivering breath and said, "Wh…What he did."


	3. Chapter 3

We've left off at where Mio's in Kotarou's arms, and she's about to tell something she's deathly afraid to say.

"What who did? What are you talking about, Mio?"

"I…I can't!!!!!!!" Mio cried, sobbing hysterically so Kotarou could barely make out the words she was forming. "I can't, I can't I can't, he'll kill me, Kotarou! He said he would! He said he'd kill me after he reached you and Dad and Mom! I can't!"

Kotarou was utterly shocked at these words. He slightly pulled Mio away from him so he could look into her eyes, as if trying to find a code to decipher or something to tell him what exactly had happened. _Maybe if I could just get her to tell me where whatever had happened happened, Tatsuki could go and see…_"If you won't tell me what happened, at least tell me where." Since Mio seemed to contemplate this, he continued with, " I'm sure that whoever did this to you didn't say not to tell someone where it happened. A hidden loophole, huh?"

Mio responded. "I'm too scared…"

"Don't be, Mio," Kotarou said gently. "I'm right here. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm protecting you."

Mio looked up at him with a quivering lip and nodded, unable to find words to show her agreement.

"I knew you had it in you," Kotarou said approvingly and guided her to the couch. Sitting down beside her, he asked, "Okay, so where did this happen?"

"Down by the… Down by the bridge. I was just walking, Kotarou… I wasn't doing anything! I didn't do anything…"

"I know, Mio," Kotarou murmured in a soothing tone. _I think I understand now…_Kotarou thought, grimacing. _But we'll have to make sure, so I can murder whoever it was who changed Mio so greatly._ "I'm going to go talk to Tatsuki and see if—"

"No, Kotarou, don't! I know what you're planning, don't betray me like that!"

"I was going to say," Kotarou said, almost in a growl, drawing in a breath, " I'm going to talk to Tatsuki and see if he can get the guest bedroom ready for you to spend the night. I somehow fail to see that as a betrayal of you, Mio, and I fail to see how you can believe that I would betray you."

"I-I didn't mean…"

"And yet, isn't it strange how things come out as things we don't mean?"

"I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. You're jumpy. Go ahead and wash up if you want to. You know where the bathroom is. I'm going to go talk to Tatsuki."

"Um, right."


	4. Chapter 4

_Mio's let out that whatever had happened did at the bridge. Kotarou's gone to look for Tatsuki._

"Tatsuki! Tatsuki, where are you?" This familiar cry echoed throughout the house as the younger Oohira searched for his cousin.

This time, Kotarou found Tatsuki in his room. Knocking on his door, he said, "Tatsuki? Um, I'm really sorry to bother you… could I come in really fast?" Since there was no response from Tatsuki, Kotarou opened the door and poked his head in, seeing Tatsuki lying in his bed, staring at his ceiling. "Tatsuki, I have a huge favor to ask you. I—"

"Not interested," Tatsuki said in a bitter tone.

"Tatsuki, you know I wouldn't be asking you for anything if I didn't need your help. It's really important! Please hear me out."

"Not interested," Tatsuki repeated, now sitting up in his bed. His eyes bore into Kotarou's telling him to leave, but Kotarou stood his ground.

"Tatsuki, come on! It's about Mio! I need your help right now. Look, all I need you to do is go down to the bridge and tell me what you 'see' there. Tell me the past of there: something happened to Mio, something that changed her! I have my suspicions, but I have to have you confirm them! Please, just slip out your window like you always do anyway!"

Tatsuki stared down his cousin who, likewise, stared him down as well. "Don't make me say it again," he finally said.

At first, Kotarou was going to yell at him for being a prick, for not helping. Instead, Kotarou's face fell, and he looked about to cry. "All I ask of you is one simple thing, and you can't even do that. It could be something crucial, and you don't even care. I just wanted your help. Sorry to _b-bother_ you with that."

Kotarou stormed out of Tatsuki's room, hoping he didn't see the tears now streaming down his cheeks. _Damn it!_ He thought, wiping his eyes with his bare forearm. _What was I thinking, asking him for help? I should've known he wouldn't, but I had to go and get myself all upset over it! Ugh!_ Wiping away the last of his tears, he stepped into the messy guestroom. Looking over it, he sighed and began to clean up. He didn't hear Mio come up behind him, and when Mio spoke out loud, he was bent over on the ground picking up dirty clothes.

"You don't have to do that, you know," she said. "Though I appreciate it."

"Mio, hey. I thought you were washing up."

She put on a fake, deceiving-like grin and said with out making eye contact, "Well, I was wondering where your towels were, and if you'd mind if I took a shower. "

Looking at her untrustingly, he said, "I'll get you a towel. Hold on."

As he walked out of the room, he wondered, _Why does she want to take a shower here? She rarely even wants to stay over here for more than a couple of hours, let alone even go to the bathroom._ Dismissing these thoughts, he concluded that it was unusual, but it was also unusual that she was pending the night. She more than likely showers at night, and she just want to take on now.

He opened the cabinet that held the towels and reached in to grab her their nicest one. "Here you go," he said to her when he returned to the guest room and handed her the towel.

"Thanks. I'll be out in a minute or two."

"Take your time."

She walked off, leaving him to clean the room in silence. In about seven minutes, Mio returned, also wrapped in a towel, and the room was almost clean. "That's good enough, I think," Mio said. "You really didn't have to do it anyway. I'm going to go to sleep now, okay? I'll see you in the morning."

"Hey, hold on a second," Kotarou sighed. "Give me your clothes. I'll lend you a nightshirt to sleep in, and I'll throw these in the wash."

"No, no, it's okay, I'll just sleep in these," Mio said hesitantly. "Really, I'm fine."

"I'm insisting, and I refuse to hear otherwise. Hand them over." She reluctantly gave her uniform to him, and he thanked her. "Goodnight, Mio. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Kotarou-kun."

Closing the door behind him, he walked back to Tatsuki's room. Without knocking, he opened the door to talk to him again, but Tatsuki was no where to be found. The window was open, and his gloves were gone.

Smiling slightly, Kotarou closed the door again and went to the laundry room to wash Mio's uniform.


	5. Chapter 5

_Tatsuki has, of course, dragged himself into the dilemma that has aroused with Mio._

Kotarou glanced over at the clock. About an hour and a half ago, he had said goodnight to Mio and saw that Tatsuki had gone off to help. In his pajamas, he paced the living room, thinking so quickly that his mind was searing with a huge headache. "Geh," he said out loud for the umpteenth time, and he finally went into the kitchen to get some aspirin. When he returned to the living room, he immediately resumed his pacing.

He jumped when Tatsuki came behind him and said, "You're finally dressed. Congratulations."

"Tatsuki!" Kotarou said, never so happy to see his cousin in his life. "What did you find out about Mio?"

"What makes you think I went out for you?" He said and walked past him to the kitchen. Reaching for a satsuma, he said, "I may have just gone to Urushiyama's."

"Yeah. Like you'd just voluntarily go over to anyone's house, let alone Yuuto's. Right." Drilling into the back of Tatsuki's head, Kotarou tried to make him respond.

Tatsuki, with his back still turned, said quietly, almost in a whisper, "What are your suspicions, Kotarou?"

"Huh?" Kotarou said, a bit taken aback. "Oh. Um, well… I just wanna know what happened."

"I asked you what you think happened to Mio."

Kotarou looked down at the ground, unable to find an easy way of putting his thoughts into words. "Well…I don't want to say it out loud, Tatsuki! It's bad enough to think it!"

Tatsuki, finally turning, whispers, "Do you think she was raped?"

Kotarou's heart leaps into his throat, beating harder than ever. He doesn't look Tatsuki in the eyes, but aims a knowing look at the orange Tatsuki is holding.

"I know it's not easy, Kota," Tatsuki said, walking up to Kotarou and leaning down near his ear, "but you've got to bear with the fact. She'll actually have to live with it."

Tatsuki walked away from Kotarou, who, feeling very bewildered, had hot tears running down his cheeks again. _No one can do that to my Mio,_ He thought angrily. _NO ONE._

Mio woke up in the Oohira's house. Sitting up in the guestroom bed, she stretched and yawned. Feeling very sore, she got up and walked down the stairs. Before she reached the bottom, however, she stopped because she heard Tatsuki's voice seemingly talking to himself.

"So you haven't seen him, Urushiyama? Of course I live with him, doesn't mean I baby-sit him. Yeah, you idiot, if I knew that, then I'd know where he was, huh? He doesn't have a cell phone, he has a…Pager. You have his pager number, don't you? Try that when you're done talking to me. In fact, give me the number, I might try him after you do…Hn. He's an idiot. He must be hanging around you too much. Whatever."

The phone clicked down and Tatsuki looked up to see Mio on the last step. "Has something happened, Tatsuki?" Mio asked quietly.

"Kotarou disappeared last night. He's not here. I think he put your uniform out on the chair in the guestroom. I'll take you to school today on my…I'll walk you. Get dressed quickly. It'll take a while to get to your school and mine."

Kotarou looked at the horizon. The sun was just rising, and he still hadn't found anything. _I haven't slept, and there's been no trace of anything here! Ugh, could this get any harder?!_ Kotarou sat underneath the bridge, leaning his back against the cool rock. Almost immediately, his eyes began to droop, so he stood back up and paced again. _Maybe there's something in the water?_ He was not prepared to get wet, but he decided that he would get in if he only wore his undergarments. Stripping down to the necessities, he clambered into the freezing cold shallow river. Even though the river was shallow, the current was rather rapid, and Kotarou's frail body was in no condition to battle it. He decided to do his best against it and try to fight away hypothermia. At least the briskness of the water seemed to wake him up a bit, and he searched the bottom of the river for anything… A wallet, keys, maybe even a cigarette butt. _I might even find,_ Kotarou shivered at the thought, _A used condom._

As Kotarou searched, the sun rose swiftly across the sky, making the day a bit warmer, although it was still smack in the middle of February. "Come on," Kotarou thought out loud, "come on! There has to be something—Oh!"

He delicately Mio's handbag from the river. _Of course!_ He thought. _This will have whoever did its prints on it! We can find the guy who…_

Before Kotarou could complete this joyous thought, something heavy fell upon his head with great force, and Kotarou barely even saw the rushing water meet his face before he blacked out.

(This one's rather longer, and I'll bring more to you shortly! Good night everyone! Here it's like 10:30. I don't want to write anymore tonight!)


	6. Chapter 6

Something mysterious has happened to our young hero, and Tatsuki is, of course, worried about his cousin. This one contains spoilers to the series.

Stirring slowly, Kotarou's eyes hesitantly focused. He realized that he was bound and gagged, his mouth filled with a rag that wrapped around his head and his arms and legs all tied together behind his back in the most uncomfortable fashion. "Mrph…mmmph!" Kotarou desperately tied to call out for help but found it extremely difficult to even make a sound.

Looking around at his surroundings, Kotarou saw that he was no longer at the riverbank but in a building somewhere. He saw steel pipes, metal chains, and tools he had never seen before—in short, a perfect hideout for a scary gang. Kotarou felt his blood pressure rise and his heartbeat quicken as he examined everything he could see. _No doubt that I didn't pass out from lack of sleep…_he thought.

He desperately tried to roll, move, or some way get out from the state he was in. He tried to work the gag off of his mouth and release the ropes that bound his arms and legs, but he did so without any advancement. Giving up, he rested his head on the cold ground again and sighed to the best of his ability. _This stuff always happens to me…Why am I always the target of this kind of thing?_

Kotarou heard something a short distance away -- a smacking and thudding noise, an older man's voice and a young female's faint, quiet gasps. It sounded as if the man was hitting the woman, and she was trying to suppress her fear and pain. _Something Mio would be doing, no doubt._

Mio felt very sullen as she slipped into her uniform: sighing slightly, she walked over to the desk in her room and looked at a picture frame resting on it. In the frame, a broody Tatsuki was to the left, looking highly embarrassed to be in a picture, a smiling Kotarou to the right, looking as happy as ever, and their late grandfather in between them, smiling warmly at the camera. Mio felt her spirits rise and fall at the same time: she was happy to see Kotarou's smiling face and thought that Tatsuki was being his normal self in the picture, yet she felt sad that their grandfather was gone. Kotarou had sulked for such a long time after their grandfather's death, and Tatsuki had went into a sort of rampage mode, taking his anger out on everyone, including Koutari, the one who had caused their grandfather's death. All seemed well enough now that Tatsuki had recovered from his downfall, and Kotarou was back to his happy self, suppressing his hidden loneliness.

Mio sighed once more, thinking of what Kotarou was doing right now. No doubt that he was at the bridge investigating, but how much had he uncovered? _I should have made him promise me not to go there,_ she thought. _It's too painful to think about._

She walked down the stairs (slowly, because she was in some pretty great pain) and met Tatsuki by the door. "Shall we go, then?" she asked Tatsuki.

"As long as you're ready, Mio."

They walked out the door, Tatsuki locking it behind him, and steadily walked to Mio's school. Tatsuki deliberately walked quickly in hopes to reach school on time and to test if Mio was up to school. "T-Tatsuki, wait up," Mio called out. She was at least 7 meters behind him. He turned and walked backwards, letting out his usual "Hn" as he watched her walk.

She was seemingly waddling down the street, nearly embarrassing Tatsuki, but she nonetheless was trying to catch up. Gasping for breath, she said, "Do you always walk this fast?"

"Yes," he said flatly. "Is it too much strain on you? I thought for sure that you always walked quickly with Kotarou, but maybe you're a tad bit embarrassed to be walking with his cousin?"

"N-no! It's not that…"

"Are you in pain or something, then? You always seem to walk quickly at other times. Surely you care about reaching your school on time…" Deliberately acting as he would to make Kotarou call him a prick or bastard, Tatsuki tried to pry something out of Mio.

Mio, in return, growled a bit under her breath. "Tatsuki, please."

Tatsuki, however, walked faster, making Mio break into a steady jog to keep up. Still walking backwards, he muttered, "Did something happen to you last night? You're not one to suddenly arrive at someone's house. Or for that matter, call at their doorstep and see if they could stay."

"How did you know that I did that?" Mio gasped. "I didn't see anyone in your window."

"Who said anything about seeing you?" Tatsuki replied ambiguously, turning his back to her once more and walking faster still.

_He's not making sense,_ Mio thought desperately. _Maybe he knows what happened. Was he there? Did he see?_ She stopped dead in her tracks, not noticing Tatsuki stop with her. "Do you know…?" she whispered haphazardly.

Tatsuki places a trademark Tatsuki face on and said, "We'll be late for school. Come on."


End file.
